"If policymakers wish to genuinely reduce harm to young people online, they must take seriously the task of challenging models based on behavioural advertising, profiling and problematic algorithm-driven feeds." My latest for The Guardian on the news that the ban, unsurprisingly, isn't working

“one bloke and his fragile ego” 💯

We don't have "car culture" by accident. We have it because Labor, and the Libs and Nats spent decades building cities where the car is the encouraged option. Telling people to drive less while funding suburban sprawl and multilane roads is like telling people to eat less while subsidising KFC.

I don’t necessarily need my fears reflected in research but does make me feel less like I’m imagining things.

🙃 Am i wrong or is this a proposal for individualised AI-generated content that reflects your worldview?

"Unlimited: Aspirational Politics and Mobile Media Distribution" is published today. Readers with US mailing address can get a 30% discounted copy with this discount code "MITP30" for orders made today (Mar 31) on this PenguinRandomHouse link: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/814367...

Are you active on platforms like Mastodon, Bluesky, Pixelfed, or Eurosky? Please consider participating in an asynchronous brainstorming activity to share your suggestions to make them safer. See project details and sign up here tinyurl.com/44adp9cx @qutdmrc.bsky.social @admscentre.org.au

I found it, the most deranged way a grocery store has ever displayed pasta sauce

It is fucking insane to me that the government refuses to learn any lessons from Robodebt and instead seems to want to roll out more opaque data-driven systems totally divorced from lived experience and actual need. Shameful and embarrassing for Labor. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03...

Incredible stuff.

Jogging French sailor reveals location of aircraft carrier

all power to Huerta. we need an open reckoning with the sexual (not to mention economic) exploitation of women as workers in the labour movement

this claims that there is no theoretical limit to the demand for hyper-personalized content; but the actual demand for actual content is dictated by social relations (desiring the desire of the other, etc.) arxiv.org/pdf/2601.06060

Most accurate portrait of modern culture currently available

reminded of my most dad coded political opinion which is that we need a universal Naps and Lil Snacks For All program

Nyadol Nyuon spot on: “Feminism is a site of power, and a site of power will, unless it works very deliberately, continue to reproduce the behaviours of power.” www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/comment/topi...

one carefully deployed “you sound fucking insane” can change a man’s entire life trajectory

It's like when your toddler throws your phone into the toilet and then after he gets into trouble he gives you a little cuddle and it's like, look, that doesn't fix the actual problem, but it's nice.

i hate being right

Thinking about this quote from Persepolis creator Marjane Satrapi again.

💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯

well wrap me in a flag and smear some vegemite on my face, i'm feeling bloody patriotic seeing global investors pouring money into Australian bonds because our economy is less vulnerable to AI disruption because we're dummies who can only dig things out of the ground and sign up for mortages

The Bondi Royal Commission has confirmed it won’t be examining the Bondi attack. Top work, everyone.

The Albanese government has sleepwalked into another Robodebt scenario, where unfounded optimism in AI and automated decision-making has once again left Australians at the mercy of an uncaring robot bureaucrat.

GOOD

A teenage girl begging the alleged grown-ups running the country to do something about the relentless misogyny she experiences online. Social media bans won't address misogyny - that requires ongoing commitment and resources. Bans are low-hanging fruit but they can't do what they promise.

I know he’s excommunicated but is he the most senior member of the royal family to be arrested since… Charles I? Anne Boleyn? Maybe Mary Queen of Scots? Good company lol

Perfect email auto-reply

Incredible commentary from this Swiss announcer, who accurately characterizes the Israeli team as "Self-defined zionist to the core...who posted several messages in favour of the genocide in Gaza...calling it ‘the most morally just war in history.’” Solidarity to a real one.

we need to talk about that Ring Super Bowl ad

this sucks so much. rest in piece king

This is the Yale professor's explanation for why he described the physical attractiveness of a student in an email to Epstein. He explicitly says he regrets nothing about their association. Again, I'm so happy Yale hired David Brooks to restore trust. yaledailynews.com/articles/gel...

all these emails between academics and Epstein are more testimony of what women in academia have to contend with 😡

Nothing like working on a highly competitive grant application with a small, unwell child to make you feel like you’re about to have a nervous breakdown 😅

I hadn’t known this. Two men who were accused of sexual abuse on the Shitty Media Men document that I created back in 2017 reached out to Michael Wolff for help as they looked to sue me, and Wolf forwarded their concerns to Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein offered to help. www.jmail.world/thread/EFTA0...

No pride in genocide

get in girlies, we're talking surveillance! we're talking the fantasy of automation propped up by humans! we're talking unfulfilled promises of tech to reduce household labour! we're talking funwashing of robots made for warfare!

New open access publication with Kim Toffoletti & Sarah Reddan. Online harm—whether direct, witnessed, verbal, and/or image-based—is a serious workplace issue with impacts on the wellbeing, performance and economic opportunities of professional athletes. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

About 18 months ago I sent this letter, along with a copy of my book, to a number of MPs and peers, including Wes Streeting. I never got a response (which to be fair was my baseline expectation), but it’s still disheartening to see today’s news about Haidt’s invitation to speak to policymakers.

Grok is being weaponised to digitally remove clothing from women and children's photos and by restricted AI image-generation to paying users, they are effectively monetising the creation of child sexual abuse material and non-consensual deepfakes rather than stopping it.

📢 PhD Scholarship at QUT to join my DECRA project "Democratic Resilience Online: Strengthening Public Opinion Formation Amid Digital Threats" @qutdmrc.bsky.social 📅 Applications close: 13/03/2026 More info here: www.qut.edu.au/study/fees-a... Please share and reach out if you have questions!

rip to a.... one

Surely an antitrust issue, no? blog.google/company-news...

Louise Adler pulls no punches here and she is absolutely spot on. "The increasingly extreme and repressive efforts of pro-Israel lobbyists to stifle even the mildest criticism has had a chilling effect on free speech and democratic institutions." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Colleagues at the Open University of Catalonia are looking for 24(!!!!) doctoral candidates on a range of topics connected to ICT use. Check out the call for applications here: www.uoc.edu/portal/en/es...

The "smartphones/social media" discourse suffers from some amazing historical amnesia. There was no 2008 financial crisis and no global pandemic starting in 2020, it's all SCREENS SCREENS SCREENS. Major world events? Just the backdrop against which SCREENS happened.

In case you have never seen this.

NEW! Survey on experiences of romantic crushes, please share widely! The aim of this study is to investigate the romantic crush. Note that this is only for people currently residing in Australia who are 18+. Find out more and complete the survey at this link: q.surveys.unimelb.edu.au/jfe/form/SV_...

Today the Federal Government has released their National AI Plan, the substance of which reflects a lack of desire to regulate Big Tech’s AI systems before they harm people. They had a great opportunity to regulate Big Tech, but their AI Plan has sold us, and our data, out to the AI companies.

FFS. This government's commitment to not upsetting business interests is astonishing and infuriating. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12...